What Separates Me and You

Alerted, Quintin looked at the door, where he saw the man he had expected to see. Phineas kicked away the stool that was in the way before retreating behind Lewis.

Josephine's mouth was still stuffed with chips. The sight of Lewis standing by the door reminded her of Quintin's words. Silently, she hid behind Quintin and craned her neck to check on the situation.

Her actions darkened the glint in Lewis' eyes. Marching into the place, he scanned every corner of it until his gaze landed on the heaps of snacks. He simply grabbed one packet of them and took a look at it before tossing it back. "You fed her this junk?"

Quintin was irked by that. "What junk? They're her favorites, so I bought them!"

An expressionless Lewis cast his gaze on Josephine, who was still sneaking a few peaks at him behind Quintin. The moment they met each other's eyes, she quickly shrank herself behind the man. Quintin watched Lewis as he was on guard. Despite that emotionless visage, Quintin could sense that Lewis was on the verge of losing it. "What brings you here? You said five days. It hasn't been a day, and you're already going back on your word?"

Lewis primped his coat to take a seat opposite Quintin. "It's five days only if there's no emergency, but I guess that promise is broken."

Quintin had already expected this to happen, hence his irritated tone. "What do you mean by an emergency? Right now, is anything different from the time she spent with you? Just because she lost her memories, you gambled that she wouldn't stay with me. That's why you sent her to me. And now you're calling it an emergency because she has lost her memories again? How shameless of you."

There was no sign of nuance in Lewis' expression. He gazed at Quintin calmly. "Since you put it that way, I think I can save the courtesy."

"What are you trying to do?" Quintin's brows furrowed.

Lewis raised his chin, motioning at Phineas. "Take her with us."

Phineas nodded, but Quintin thwarted him before he could go any farther. "Lewis Alvarez! You'd better be a man of your word! Is this how you handle your business too? Besides, you're divorced, and you're the one who ditched her! You have Sierra. The whole world knows that she's your girlfriend. Why can't you just let Josephine go? Don't get greedy!"

Lewis' eyes were fixated on Phineas as if he couldn't hear Quintin. Invisible weight sat upon Phineas' shoulders, prompting him to shove Quintin away so that he could grab Josephine's arm. Quintin fell onto the couch. By the time he looked back, Phineas had secured her to their side.

"Lewis Alvarez, are you trying to let two women down at the same time?" blurted the anxious Quintin.

Lewis' icy gaze landed upon Quintin. "Mr. Quintin, don't think that you know the whole story just because you know an inkling of it."

"So what? If you had stayed faithful to your marriage, would you have ended up with a divorce? Would things have escalated this far?" "Maybe you have a point, but stop being nosy, Quintin Fowler."

"I joined this boring game because of your father, but I'm putting an end to it now. What can you do about it?" Quintin was exasperated.

The dominant party of this gamble was Lewis. Quintin was too naive to expect Lewis to stay true to his words. The mere thought of his naivety made him want to slap himself so much.

"She doesn't want to go with you. If you take her away by force, you'll only be hurting her. Lewis Alvarez, if you genuinely care for her, stop hurting her again and again."

Lewis glanced at Josephine, who was struggling to free herself from Phineas. She wanted to return to Quintin's side so desperately that her eyes became watery.

Lewis chuckled. "So, you want her to stay for five days so that you can make her choose to stay with you forever? That way, I have to let her stay by your side as promised?" "Exactly. That's your promise!"

Suddenly, Lewis stood up and looked at Quintin coldly. "Sorry, but I'm taking back my word now."

He declared so confidently as though it was a matter of fact. Quintin was so done with Lewis' shamelessness. If he could take back his word that boldly, he had truly taken his shamelessness to the next level. "Take her with us." Not wanting to speak to him any longer, Lewis turned around and left the house. Phineas nodded and yanked Josephine outside.

"No! That's against the promise!" Quintin tried to stop them, but Phineas booted him right in the stomach before he could grab her.

He flew one yard away and lay prone on the ground. The pain bolted through every muscle in his body, forbidding him from getting up. He hugged his stomach and lifted his head with difficulty.

Josephine kept looking at him with reddened eyes. Tears were pooling in them as she was concerned about his condition.

She was no match for Phineas, so she held the doorframe with one hand. She was begging Lewis not to take her away just as she did earlier today.

Barely 12 hours had passed, but she didn't want to leave this place anymore.

Her endeavor made Lewis' blood boil. Phineas removed her hand from the doorframe and dragged her all the way out.

The sobbing woman punched him on the arm, trying to get him to let her go. It was a vain attempt because her punches were nothing to him. Right then, she clawed her fingers at his face. Although he was quick enough to dodge, his neck was still scratched.

He hissed in pain, and blood began to ooze out of the five lines on his neck.

Lewis stopped in his track to look sideways at them. Phineas complained, "Chairman Alvarez, she scratched me..."

Lewis shifted his gaze onto Josephine, who sensed it and shot him a glare as if he was the ultimate villain.

He strode forward and grabbed her wrist to yank her over to his side. She was going to counter, but he was not one to let her be like Phineas.

He grabbed her other hand readily and fettered her hands before pulling her outside. Now that she was rendered vulnerable, she staggered on her feet to follow the man. She glared at his back as if she was trying to remember this bad person.

"Quintin's right. He's a bad guy! He's the worst!" she concluded in her head.

Once the pain was bearable, Quintin got up to his staggering feet and dashed out of the building. However, Josephine was nowhere to be seen.

When he arrived before the elevator, it had already descended to the first floor. Hurriedly, he took the other elevator to catch up with them.

Darkness painted the sky somber. When Josephine was dragged out of the place, she was drenched by the torrential rain, which made it impossible for her to open her eyes.

Lewis opened the car door so that she could enter the vehicle, but she just wouldn't hop on. She bit his wrist instead. The man froze and stared at her.

Her hair was a mess because of the rain. She didn't let go of him and maintained eye contact with him, threatening him to let her go.

Her gaze spoke of intense anger and hatred.

Phineas, who was standing next to them, hushed his breath. Just like that, the two remained in that position for a while. No matter how cold the rain was, they did not budge.